Domingo 1 Ene 2006, 16:07

I bought some CDs in the post-christmas sale. Whereas once upon a time I would buy the year's best solo albums, these days I'm concentrating on building up my record collection by exploring the 60s to 90s, and finding new stuff that way, as to be frank, I don't think I'm getting anything from today's artists.

Having said that, I am thoroughly enjoying the Tears' debut album. I am a huge Suede fan, and Dog Man Star is one of my favourites, but I was procrastinating over buying the this new CD as I wasn't sure any good could come of it. And though it does sound a bit like the last Suede album, and Bernard Butler's probably spreading himself a bit thin by being involved in three million different projects, but it's got wings, and it takes flight on more that a few occasions.

See the problem is, when I look back at the 60s, I see bands involved in friendly competition, pushing each other to write the best albums that they could. The Beatles took inspiration from the artists that went before them and the music that was all around them. Now look at today. Can you see that kind of environment anywhere? Do Franz Ferdinand make people want to go out and better them? That's the way the best songs have come to us in the past, through songwriters being inspired by other peoples work.

There's not a lot of it around at the moment. But The Tears make me want to play guitar.